Presto case; high quality moulded
fiberglass case hand made in Perth Western Australia (add $200
for the mandolins and $400 for the guitars, a
substantial discount to the retail price). All mandolins are provided with a
custom made Cedar Creek hard-shell case as standard.

Waverly mandolin tuners (add $460).
Waverly tuners are the best quality money can buy, and will make
tuning a pleasant experience, very smooth. However, they will not make any
difference to how the instrument stays in tune. My mandolins
stay in tune, unlike a lot of other mandolins, even from some well
known makers. I regularly play my own personal mandolin at a
3-4 hr gig and never need to re-tune during the gig, and this is
with the old Schaller tuners. A mandolin that stays in
tune during a gig is a blessing. Are Waverly's worth the
extra money? If you have the extra cash and want the very
best, then yes, otherwise no. I have never felt the need to
upgrade my own mandolin. Waverly tuners are not a stock item
(too expensive) so there is a lead time, and payment in advance is
required. Note that the standard tuners I now use are the new
Schaller GrandTune tuners which are not far behind the Waverlies
(see pictures below).

Guitar tuners. I use open
tuners because of their lighter weight. The OM guitars come
fitted with Schertler guitar tuners (made in Switzerland) which I
think are the best on the market, very smooth and accurate and come
with Ebony knobs. The smaller guitars come
either with Gotoh (Tenor guitars) or Schaller GrandTune tuners.
Waverly tuners can be fitted on custom instruments for an additional
cost. However, Schaller GrandTune tuners are in my opinion
equivalent to the quality of the Waverlies and are available in a large
range of options. Note that the guitar tuners are not
interchangable because of differing ferrule sizes.

Note: My last set of Waverlies has been
sold so there are none in stock.

Pickup -
Schertler is
recommended for best sound, but they are expensive. Customers will need to contact their local Schertler
distributor. I don't normally fit pickups to the mandolins,
but can fit McIntyre feather pickups to some of the mandolins for an
additional $200, it depends on internal access whether a pickup can
be installed. All guitars come fitted with a McIntyre feather
pickup as standard. A preamp is required for the McIntyre
feather pickups.

No additional
cost:

Narrow neck

Choice of either snakehead (standard) or
paddle type peghead

Nickel tuning machines and tailpiece

Flat fingerboard

Special orders can be made
from highly figured timbers if available.

Your choice of strings. I set
up the instruments for D'Addario semi flat top strings (FT74 for
mandolin) as standard. These are a polished string with a
wound A string (on mandolin) that gives a rich mellow tone, and
after trying all sorts of strings I believe these strings sound best
on my instruments and is what I recommend. Being semi flat
wound, there is less squeak and far less fret wear. On a
mandolin with FT74 strings expect around 3-5 times longer fret life.
If you are a medium to light player, then you might never need a
refret with these strings. The guitars come fitter with Elixir
strings.

Other customisations can be
negotiated

Rectangular Presto
case

New wedge shaped Presto case. This model is smaller and
lighter, but has less storage space.

Waverly mandolin tuners in satin gold with Ebony tuning knobs.

Schaller GrandTune mandolin tuners in satin gold with Ebony knobs.
Superbly machined, virtually no slop, not far behind the Waverley tuners
in quality, and with a wide variety of options, just not quite as smooth
as Waverley, but at around 1/3rd the cost it is a no brainer.
These are now my standard tuners.

Timber choice is up to you, but will depend on what I
have available. Each mandolin is constructed with your individual
requirements in mind and I can advise on what would best suit your
requirements in terms of tonal qualities and oval or F soundholes.

Briefly summarising a complex topic, all the preferred
topwoods (European Spruce,Engelmann Spruce,
King Billy Pine and
Red
Spruce) make very fine sounding mandolins, and there is not a huge
difference in the final result. If volume and headroom is important,
then I would recommend a Spruce top. Red Spruce is probably the most
powerful topwood, with European Spruce not far behind, but with a
sweet and more even tonal quality. Choice of timber for the
back does not have as much influence as the top, but still does
influence the tone of the instrument.

The denser timbers such as Tasmanian Myrtle,
Queensland
Walnut or Black Walnut have more bass emphasis which gives a warmer
tonal quality, but they are often not quite as loud. On the other hand,
Tasmanian Blackwood has a typical bright sweet clear midrange and treble
which complements the warmer qualities of Engelmann Spruce.
Queensland
Maple usually makes loud, bright, and extremely resonant and responsive,
well balanced instruments, but not as smooth or sweet sounding as
Blackwood.

If your choice of topwood is European Spruce, then
Tasmanian Myrtle, Tasmanian Oak, or European Maple in my opinion is really the only
sensible choice for the back.
This combination makes a really classy sounding mandolin that sounds
superior to any vintage Gibson I have ever played. It is difficult to say
what my favourite timbers are that give the "best" tone. What is "best"
anyway? Everyone has different tastes.